The Hereafter 1

We, the human race living on this earth are under the perception that we belong here and this is our residence and home. We dont know or we dont want to know the fact that we are on a train and the train is going through stations to another final destination. And that this world is only one of these stops in one of the stations. But we do not belong here. We have a ticket that has three slips. We live in the womb for nine months and then we come out, one slip is torn out of the ticket. And then we live in dunya for a while and in this station and when we are dying, the second slip from the ticket is torn out. And then we have one slip left and that will be torn out either in hell-fire or in Janna. And that is the final destination. We do not belong here; we are traveling. And thats why Rasool (S.A.W.) said, Kun fi dunya ka annaka aabri us-sabeel (be in this world as if you are traveler). And Rasool (S.A.W.) says the example or the analogy of being in this dunya is like some body who is traveling in the desert and then saw a tree. So he took some shade under this tree and then took some rest and then continued with his journey. That is dunya. We spend a few moments under this tree and then we keep on moving. Can you stop time? Time is revolving and is eroding our existence. Time the movement of time is erosion of our existence in this dunya. It is ripping away and carrying parts of our own existence with every second that passes by. It is taking part of us. We do not belong here and we need to believe in the fact that we do not belong here. And we need to prepare for death. That is the topic of the series that we are starting with the will of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala, al-Akhira, the journey towards the Hereafter, al-Akhira. Why do we talk about al-Akhira? We have to have intention we have to have objectives for everything that we do. So what are the objectives of talking about al-Akhira? 1) It is part of iman. It is a pillar of faith. Part of iman is un tomina bil-yaum al-akhir. That is a pillar of our iman to believe in the Hereafter. 2) Why do we have all of these problems around us? Why do have a Muslim who drinks and a Muslim who commits zina and a Muslim who deals with riba and a Muslim who lies? Why? What are we missing? Listen carefully, very carefully to this saying of Sayyeda Aisha (R.A.). Sayyeda Aisha, Subhan Allah in this short sentence is giving us a program of individual and social change in one sentence. If we would apply, we would see immense and huge change in our lives. Sayyeda Aisha says, If the first thing revealed in Quran was do not drink, the people would have said we are never going to stop drinking and if the first thing that was revealed in Quran was telling the people do not commit fornication and adultery, the people would have said we are never going to stop committing fornication and adultery but the first thing that was revealed in Quran was the sura of al-mufassil which talked about and mentioned hell-fire and paradise. Until the hearts were attached to Allah Subhanahu wa Taala, then the orders of halal and haram came down. If you notice in the period of Mecca, there wasnt too much law given. Most of the laws of Islam and shara were revealed in Medina. But in Mecca it was a preparation to receive the law. It was preparation to fill the tank with iman. And that is by mentioning janna and naar, mentioning al-Akhira, talking about al-ghaib (the unseen) until the hearts were attached to Allah. Until all of the veils of darkness are lifted from in front of our eyes, then the orders of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala came down - halal and haram. We are not suffering from a problem of

ignorance only thats not the only problem even though it is a problem. But its not the only problem because everyone knows that khamr is haram. Everyone one knows that alcohol is haram; why do some people drink it? Everyone knows that interest (riba) is haram. Why do people deal with interest? Everyone knows the importance of salat-uljamaa and fasting and salah; how come some people dont do it? Everyone knows the importance of fulfilling the pillar of hajj anybody the children know the five pillars of Islam and one of them is al-hajj how come people are not going to do hajj. Its not only a problem of ignorance. A major problem is insufficient iman. The heart is rough like a rock. The hearts are not soft. And what will soft in these tough, harsh and rough heart is al-Akhira. Talking about al-ghaib, (the unseen) because Rasool (S.A.W.) says, If you know what I know you would cry a lot and you would laugh a little. If we know the reality of al-Akhira, like one of the I mentioned about Ali ibn-i-Talib that he said, It wouldnt make a difference if I see Janna in front of me I wouldnt love it more and even if I see hell-fire in front of me, I wouldnt hear it more. Ali ibn-i-Talib what he is saying that he had absorbed the meaning of Janna and naar so much that even if he sees it, it wouldnt make a difference. He is living in dunya as if Janna is in front of him and hellfire is in front of him. That is the iman when you reach to that level. Let us go back to the issue of social change and individual change. In the US - I give you an example in 1930 the U.S. Congress they decided that they should ban alcohol. Subhan Allah! It is the fitra of Insan whether you are Muslim or non-Muslim to know that this is harmful; everybody knows that alcohol is not good. So U.S. Congress here in the United Statesthey decided that they are going to ban the consumption of alcohol the prohibition and they passed the law and they tried to enforce the law using law-enforcement. During that process about half a million people were thrown in jail. Millions and millions of dollars were spent to enforce the law. Thousands of people were killed in enforcing the law and the consumption of alcohol did not change. People were bootlegging in their own houses and manufacturing alcohol in their own houses and because the process of making khamr (alcohol) is so unhygienic and dirty, diseases were spreading and after four years of misery the United States decided we cant go ahead with this and we have to stop it. After four years they lifted the ban and told the people do whatever you want; it didnt work. This is the mighty United States. It could not enforce law banning alcohol. It couldnt. The most powerful nation on earth couldnt do it. Its 1400 years earlier. Jibreel (A.S.) came to Muhammad (S.A.W.) revealing the aya saying that alcohol, khamr maiser and all other things are

These are acts of evil, acts of Shaitan (5:90).

Stay away from it (5:90). The aya of Quran came down to Muhammad (S.A.W.) banning the consumption of alcohol. Rasool (S.A.W.) without any police or army or national guards conveyed the aya recited the aya (tilawah) to the Sahaba who were with him and the Sahaba went out carrying the news in the streets of Medina announcing that alcohol (khamr) is now illegal. Ans ibn-i-Malik said, I was serving some of the Sahaba with alcohol and we heard the announcement in the streets that alcohol is haram. He said I threw the jug from my hand and some of the Sahaba had the cup in their hands and

they threw it and some of them had already alcohol in their mouth and they spit it out. And some of them went as far as inducing vomit - to vomit whatever is in their stomachs. And it is said it was described that the streets of Medina were flowing with khamr were flowing with alcohol. Immediate obedience immediate without any police without US Congress without national guards without law enforcement without spending millions of dollars without throwing any person in jail, the law was immediately followed. Why? How come it worked in Medina and didnt work in the United States? Difference of iman, taqwa, wra - because the Sahaba (R.A) were prepared for that. They were prepared to receive the orders of halal and haram. We need to prepare ourselves to receive those orders by talking about al-Akhira. So this slip in our ticket that we will discuss the outline of the elements in it; we will start with qiyama alsughra; the minor Day of Judgment which includes 1) death; 2) al-qabr (the grave); 3) we will talk about rooh (the soul); 4) well talk about ashrat-us-saa (the signs of the Day of Judgment) which are minor and major. And then the next section is al-Qiyamat-ulKubra (the Day of Judgment) which includes i. al-bath wan-nashoor (Resurrection); ii. Ahwaal ul-qiyama (the horrors of the Day of Judgment); iii. Al-hisaab-o-wal-jaza (Accountability and recompensing) and finally iv. Our final destination which is al-Janna or an-Naar (hell-fire or paradise). So this is the outline of our trip towards al-Akhira this journey that every one of us is taking - all of us are going to that direction. So we start seeking assistance from Allah Subhanahu wa Taala al-Qiyamat-us-Sughra (the Minor Day of Judgment). What is it and where does it start? Al-Maut (Death) that is the Minor Day of Judgment. Al-Bukhari narrates that some of the Bedouins came to Rasool (S.A.W.) and asked him about the hour (As-Saa). As-Saa is the hour (the Day of Judgment).So they would come and ask Rasool (S.A.W.) when is the hour? So Rasool (S.A.W.) would point and look at the youngest among them and he would say if this (if he) would live then by the time he reaches to old age, your Day of Judgment would have already started. By the time he grows old (if Allah would give him life) by the time he grows old, the Day of Judgment of all of you will have already started because death is the beginning of the Day of Judgment. Its called the Minor Day of Judgment. Because when a person is dead, thats it; he is counted on the other side. So that is called alQiyamat-us-Sughra (the Minor Day of Judgment). Death there is no way around it. Every one will die. Every one will die. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, Every thing will perish save His face. His is the decision and to Him you shall be returned (28:88). Everyone will perish except Allah Subhanahu wa Taala.

Every one on earth will die and only the face of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala will remain (55:26-27). And Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Every soul shall face death (21:35). You shall face death no matter what. If any one would be spared his life, then that would be Rasool (S.A.W.) but Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, You shall die and they will die. Every one will die. The term is fixed for death. It is an appointed time. Ajal it cannot change. It cannot be ahead; it cannot be later than the appointed time. It will not change. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says: And no person can ever die except by Allahs leave and at appointed term (3:145). So it is fixed time and that is for individuals and nations because Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah says, And every nation has an appointed term. When their term comes, neither can they delay nor can they advance it (7:34). They cannot change it. And Allah Subhanahu wa Taala is telling us, Dont try to get away from death; dont try to run away. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah says, Wheresoever you may be death will overtake you even if you are in fortresses built up strong and high (4:78). And Allah Subhanahu wa Taala tells us a story about some people who tried to run away from death:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, Did you not think of those who went forth from their homes in thousands fearing death (Allah is talking about this group from Bani Israel. An army was attacking them. So they wanted to save their lives. So they went out of their town in thousands running away from death. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala told them. Allah said to them, Die (you are running away from death die but then Allah Subhanahu wa Taala raised them up again to show His miracle on them and ) then he restored them to life. Truly Allah is full of bounty to mankind but most of them thank not (2:243). Umme Habiba, the wife of Rasool (S.A.W.), Umm-ul-momineen she made a dua. She said: O Allah! (and this is narrated in hadith Sahih Muslim) Give me pleasure by giving a long life to my husband Rasoolullah and a long life to my father Abu Sufyan and a long life to my brother Muavia. Rasool (S.A.W.) told her, You are supplicating towards Allah in regards to fixed terms and counted days and ordained provisions that are already divided. Again Rasool (S.A.W.) told her, You are supplicating to Allah about terms of life that are already fixed and days that are already counted and provisions that

are already ordained and divided. If you would have asked Allah Subhanahu wa Taala to save you from hell-fire and to save you from the punishment of the grave that would have been better for you. You are asking Allah to give me, your father and your brother longer life that is already determined - do not change. It will not change and it comes unannounced and it will happen wherever Allah Subhanahu wa Taala decided. I give you actual story and this story is mentioned as it happened in real. It is said that there was a construction worker, working on the 7th floor. This construction worker fell down. There were no safety measures. He landed right on the pavement from the 7th floor. He fell down on solid concrete. The passers-by thought that he is dead. So they jumped to see what happened to this man. To their amazement he stood up. This man fell from the 7t floor and he landed on the pavement concrete on the side walk actually he landed on the side walk. And he jumped up happy that Allah Subhanahu wa Taala did not take away his life. Every body around was amazed. e wasHHe was so surprised and happy that he lived; he said that I invite you to some drinks. So he crossed the road to go to the grocery and buy some drinks. He was crossing to the other side of the street and he was disoriented. A car rolled over him and killed him. He landed from the 7th floor on the pavement and did not die. Why? Because Allah Subhanahu wa Taala did not want him to die there. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala has appointed for him the specific spot and the specific moment of the day, the exact second in which his soul will be taken and the only reason he fell down from the building because Allah Subhanahu wa Taala wants him to bring him to the place of death. So he brought him down from the building to go and meet his death. Now this man when he fell down when he stood up, he thought that he was given a long life. He didnt have in his mind it was the last spot that he would die after a few moments because the way he would see it if I was saved from this death, I must have a long life ahead of me. He didnt know that the angel of death is waiting for him in the middle of the road. He had an appointment with the angel of the death. So Allah Subhanahu wa Taala brought him down from the building to go to his appointment. Another example is an earthquake that happened in Egypt a few years ago and this is something that is reported in the mass media. We all must have heard about it about this man who survived for a very long period of time. They thought that nobody could be saved from the rebel and to their amazement they found there was a man living even though all of the means of dying existed but he didnt die. It wasnt time for him to die yet. In fact he had two women relatives with him, his mother and his sister or his mother and his wife. They both died because it was unbearable situation. So the other two people who were with him died but he did not because it was time for him to die. Death comes unannounced suddenly. We think that we have time to prepare for it but sometimes it comes so suddenly you wouldnt imagine how fast it could happen and the example of that is the two airlines that crashed over India. One of them was of Saudi Airline and the other I think it was Ukrainian. This was a head-on collision. Imagine two air planes traveling speed over 800 miles per hour. A head-on collision means that they hit each other with total combined speed of 1600 miles per hour. And look on the free way when we have accident 1600 miles per hour how fast a person could die. These two air planes hit, collided head-on with a combined speed of about 1600 miles per hour. This death is split in seconds. I mean there could be someone in that plane who is lifting up a bite of fruit but he died before he could put it into his mouth. He was eating to live. There could have been two people two passengers speaking with each other and one of them

before he even completes the words before the word even comes out of his mouth he is dead. And we need to talk about death a lot because Rasool (S.A.W.) says, Frequently remember the destroyer of pleasures. Rasool (S.A.W.) described death as the destroyer of pleasures. Death when you think about death and you think about the reality of death alhaqiqa .

Rasool (S.A.W.) says: (death is true; its reality). Al-Hasan Basri says, I have never seen anything that is certain with no doubt in it but people deal with it as if it is doubt with no certainty like death. We all are certain about death, Muslim or nonMuslim. Did you ever see anybody who doesnt believe in death? But the way we are dealing with it, according to Al-Hasan Basri, it is as if it is something doubtful. Look at the way we are preparing for rizq which is doubtful. We never know how much rizq will we make tomorrow; nevertheless we do a lot for it and we plan a lot for it. But death which is absolute certainty every one of us knows that he is going to die how much we are preparing for it. Its amazing. People are not doing anything for the preparation of death and when they do prepare for death, you find that they are preparing for the aspects of death that are in this side of equation this dunya, not the other side. So they prepare for the funeral they prepare for the cemetery they prepare for the worldly arrangements but no preparation is done for what will happen on the other side of the death. They go for elaborate preparations for the ceremony and the memorial and every thing related to the cemetery, the funeral and the invitation cards and the flowers. What about what will happen on the other side? Subhan Allah! Amazing Issac Azmaq in an interview with him a few months before he died he was asked the question: What do you think will happen after you die? This is one of the most prominent science fiction writers that the world has seen. He said, Nothing nothing nothing will happen to me after I die. I will turn into dust. His knowledge and the books that he wrote and all of that intelligence and all of that fame and wealth doesnt make him any different from the most ignorant and illiterate non-believers in Mecca: 1400 years ago munkireen of al-bath, the ones who rejected resurrection. His knowledge did him nothing; didnt move him one notch up in intelligence because no matter how intelligent we think such a person is the intelligence level is zero because Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says about the non-believes on the Day of Judgment when they see the reality:

If we had any understanding if we had any intelligence or if we had any understanding we wouldnt have been in hell-fire (67:10). If our minds brought us here, then we are ignorant; we know nothing. We have no intelligence and no mind whatsoever if our minds are going to end up with us in hell-fire, what mind is that? Allah Subhanahu wa Taala has told us why He has given us the mind.

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, We have given you the sight and the ears and the mind (why) so that you may be grateful (to worship Allah Subhanahu wa Taala -16:78). That is why we are given these tools. We are given the eyes and the ears to collect the information and then we are given the mind to process it. We have sources of input and then we have the process of that information that we receive. The sight and the ears are the most important sources for gathering information and the mind processes it for us and if we use these three together, it would lead us to iman because Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says He have given us the tools to reach to the level of iman shukr. . .When we talk about death and we realize the reality of death, this will take away the veils of ghafla (unawareness). These veils will be lifted up and we will see the truth and we will lose any appetite for any pleasure that the world has to offer. This attachment that we have to dunya because we are veiled we cannot see the truth and that is why we need to talk about death and talk about al-Akhira a lot to keep on this awareness in our minds. There is a period before death that is named al-ihtizar. Al-ihtizar is like preparation for death. Al-ihtizar in this state the angels descend. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says: Until when death approaches one of you Our messengers take his soul and they never neglect their duty (6:61). Who are the messengers? The angels in this stage the angels descend and the person who is going to al-ihtizar is able to see them. Rasool (S.A.W.) says in the hadith, If the believing servant is leaving this world and moving into al-Akhira, so he is in the stage in-between. There is an area in-between a stage in which you go through that inter-phase to change from dunya to Akhira. When a person is in that stage, Rasool (S.A.W.) says, Nazzala ilaihi malaakatu minus sama (Angels will descend from the heavens) white bright faces like the sun. They have with them makafin from Paradise and in scents from Paradise. We can see them and then the angel of death will descend. And then he will sit next to his face or his head he will sit to his side. He says, O you pure soul, come out to the forgiveness of Allah and His pleasures. The angel of death softly will call the soul to come out and will promise the soul that you are going to the forgiveness of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala and His pleasures. So Rasool (S.A.W.) says this soul will come out so easily; its like a drop of water falling from a jug smooth the soul will come out so smooth its like a drop of water rolling down. For the evil-doer and the non-believer (kafir) if he is leaving dunya and approaching Akhira, then dark angels will come down and they are carrying with them coffin that are made of some harsh material it could be from hellfire. Then the angel of death will come down and sit next to him and he say, O your evil soul, Come out to the anger of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala and His wrath. It is telling this soul you are coming out you have to come out right now but you are going to the anger

of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala and the wrath of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala is waiting for you. So Rasool (S.A.W.) says when the angel of death makes that announcement, this soul will disperse in the body. The soul is running around in the body doesnt want to leave. It disperses in his body. Then the angel of death will grab the soul and pull it out like a branch with many thorns and branches pulled out of a ball of wet wool. Imagine you have a branch of thorns and wrapped around it is wet wool and you are trying to pull that branch out of the wool. What will happen? It will tear the wool apart. So Rasool (S.A.W.) says this soul when it is pulled out, it would be tearing the muscles and the nerves of that person. It would be tearing it out because the soul doesnt want to leave. Suffering and pain - this happens to the evil soul. During that stage even for the believers there could be some anxiety. So Allah Subhanahu wa Taala provides comfort to that soul albashara l-ilmomineen Allah will give them the glad news. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, Verily those who say Our Lord is Allah and then they stay firm. On them the angels will descend saying Fear not nor grieved but receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised (41:30). This soul of the believers when it is in the stage of ihtizr the angels will come down and say we are delivering to you the good news of the promise of Allah to you and that is Janna to comfort that soul. This is who? Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

The ones who said, Our Lord is Allah. Then what?

And then they stayed firm. So they didnt say, Allah is our Lord and they went right and they went into crooked past. One day in the masjid, six days outside - one day in a night club and the next day in ietikaaf - one day fasting, the next day drinking alcohol. They stayed firm they stayed firm on the straight path. These are the ones Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says the angels will come and give them and deliver to them glad tidings. And for the evil doers Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says: And if you could see when the angels take away the souls of those who disbelieve they smite their faces (they hit them) they smite their faces and their backs saying taste the punishment of the blazing fire. This is because of that your hands had forwarded and verily Allah is not unjust to his slaves (6:50-51). The angles are hitting them, beating them and telling them, You are going to receive hell-fire as a compensation of what you did and then Allah Subhanahu wa Taala is telling them:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala is not committing injustice to you (8:51). This is because of what you have reaped with your own hands. It is your actions that caused you this. Ataur-Riba says that there are three benefits of remembering death. 1) Tajil ut-tauba: You would hasten the repentance. If you are always thinking about death, you will be thinking about Akhira and you would be prepared for it and you would repent to Allah Subhanahu wa Taala. The second benefit ar-Riza bil qaleel: Content with the minimum. Whatever Allah Subhanahu wa Taala gives you, you will be happy with it. You will be satisfied and pleased because you know this is a temporary residence. This is not for you to belong. Therefore you wouldnt give it that much of concern and attention. So whatever Allah Subhanahu wa Taala gives you, Alhamdulillah. And the third benefit of talking about and remembering death: you will not fight and compete with the people of this world over this world and that would cause you to have tranquility in your heart because what makes people anxious and obnoxious is competing over material things because this world is small and our desires are large. Nothing can satisfy this desire of the human being. Rasool (S.A.W.) says if the son of Adam had the value of gold, he would request another one and nothing would please the son of Adam -- nothing would shut him up except death. Nothing would satisfy this greed except the death. When you go back to the death that would close and terminate all of your desires. So the person is always thinking about death will not fight over this world. You would realize this is temporary and its not worth fighting. And if you look at the wars, not only the fight between individuals but even wars between nations and states most of the time it is over wealth. Its over dunya. What are they fighting for? Over oil, over land, over natural resources that is why wars happen. Therefore the only justified war the only justified war is jihad because that is the only fighting that is happening for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala. Everything else is happening for the sake of dunya. They attack jihad in Islam as if they are justified. What are they fighting for? Sometimes they would cover they would mask it with the goal of human rights. We are fighting for human rights. Thats something that I wouldnt buy. I wouldnt believe that there is any more that is happening for the sake of human rights. These wars are not for human rights. These are for rights of the selected few. These are the rights not rights but these are the privileges of the selected few who are benefiting from the stethoscope. It is not for the rights of the common, me and you thats not why wars are happening and you could apply this to every war that happens we are not in the content of talking about the reasons of the war and the causes of the war in Chechnya or the war in Kuwait thats not the content of talking about but if we analyze it, you would find that these wars are happening their mask under the pretext of human rights but there is a underlined motive. Human beings if they would think about death, then they would be pleased what Allah Subhanahu wa Taala has given them and they would not compete over this world.

Sakarat-ul-maut, the stupor of death what is the meaning of sakarat-ul-maut? Sakara is the dizziness and unconsciousness that is caused by pain that is sakara. So a person who is in a state of sakara is going through unconsciousness, stages of unconsciousness and dizziness that is caused by pain and this happens during death. It is called sakarat-ulmaut. It is state of unconsciousness that occurs to the human being due to pain. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, And the stupor of death will come in truth (50:19). This is what you have been avoiding. It will come. Death is true and it will arrive; Even though you try to avoid it, it will happen and it will happen to every one. It happened to Rasool (S.A.W.). Rasool (S.A.W.) had a pot filled with water. And he would put his hand in that water he would dip his hand in water and then he would wipe his face and he would say

There is agony of death; there is stupor of death. Even Rasool (S.A.W.) was feeling it and he had to put his hand in this water to wipe his face to cool himself. If Rasool (S.A.W.) was feeling that pain, what would me and you feel? What would the non-believer feel? Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, And if you but could see when the wrong-doers are in the agony of death when the angels are stretching forth their hands and saying Deliver your souls; this day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you used to utter against Allah other than the truth and you used to reject his ayat with disrespect (6:93). Taste taste the pain of death although everyone goes through this pain but there are levels. The non-believers go through the most but then there is a certain category of people who feel almost no pain - and who are they? Ash-Shohda - Rasool (S.A.W.) says, The Shaheed feels the pain of death like one of you who would feel a sting in his head. Thats it. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala has honored the Shaheed with many honoring. So why would anybody run away from this honor? When man leaves this

world, he desires to come back. If he is a kafir he wants to come back to become a Muslim. If he is an aasi (a sinner), he wants to come back to repent tauba. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says: Until when death comes to one of them, he says My Lord, send me back so that I may do good deeds in that which I have left behind,. No it is but a word that he speaks and behind them is a brazakh, a barrier until the day when they will be resurrected (23:99-100). They were given a chance in this world and they didnt take advantage of this chance. Now when it is too late O Allah! Bring me back. Why? So that I would be righteous I would do good I would repent I would become a Muslim. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says: No and then Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says about the Barzakh, a barrier between them and going back. Al-barzakh is a barrier. Thats it. Its too late. So we are going through this road and suddenly a wall will be erected behind and there is no way back. Its too late. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala is giving you the chance now. The door of opportunity is open. And when it is too late, tauba will not be accepted. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, Allah accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness. These Allah Subhanahu wa Taala accepts their tauba and repents soon afterwards. It is they whom Allah will forgive and Allah is ever AllKnower, All-Wise (4:17). Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says: Close Ibn-i-Katheer gives the explanation of this word: close soon when is it? Soon enough to make tauba. Ibn-i-Katheer says You have the opportunity of repenting and making tauba until the moment of gharghara that is the limit. Al-gharghara is the limit. Al-gharghara is when the soul is preparing to leave the body. Up to that moment tauba is accepted and this is qareeb. And Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:

Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says, And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them. He says, Now I will repent -- nor those who die they are disbelievers for them We have prepared a painful torment (4:18). When its time for death, no tauba is accepted. And that is what Firaun did.

He said, Now I believe that there is no God but the God of the Children of Israel and I am a Muslim (10:90). Now you are repenting when you were corrupt before (19:91). Allah Subhanahu wa Taala did not accept his tauba because it was too late. So Allah Subhanahu wa Taala will accept the tauba as long as it is done before this moment when the soul is living in the body and last night we spoke about death that comes unannounced. You are not given any ultimatum. You are not given any notice to tell you that you have any appointment with the angel of death at this date and so and so time. It comes unannounced and there is no way you can change the appointment no matter how busy you try to convince the angel of death you are no matter how busy you are there is no excuse. So this comes unannounced. Therefore when is the best time for tauba? Right now.

Isnt it time for those who believe that their hearts are softened with the remembrance of Allah (57:16)? means al-aan (right now) this moment dont delay; dont procrastinate and if you read Quran, you would find that the majority of the ayat that speak about the screaming of the people of hell-fire if you look at the reason why they are screaming it is because of their tasweef (procrastination). O Allah! Take me back so that I may repent - O Allah! Take me back so that I may do good O Allah! Take me back . . . if all because of their procrastination of doing the good deeds tasweef. Whoever desires and looks forward to meeting Allah Subhanahu wa Taala, Allah would love meeting him and whoever dislikes meeting Allah Subhanahu wa Taala, Allah will dislike meeting him. When Aisha heard this, Aisha would question. If she doesnt understand something she would question. So she told Rasool (S.A.W.), And whoever does not dislike death. We

dislike death. Does that mean we dislike meeting Allah Subhanahu wa Taala? Rasool (S.A.W.) said, This is not what I meant. Rasool (S.A.W.) said, But the believer when he is about to die, he will be given the news that Allah is pleased with him and that Allah will honor him. So the most beloved thing to him becomes his future what is laying ahead and he would love to meet Allah Subhanahu wa Taala. So Allah would love to meet him. But the non-believer when he is about to die, he is given the news that Allah Subhanahu wa Taala is angry with him and that Allah will punish him. So the most dislike thing to him becomes what is facing him ahead. So he dislikes meeting Allah Subhanahu wa Taala and Allah Subhanahu wa Taala dislikes meeting him. And even after the person dies and is carried on the janaza, Rasool (S.A.W.) says in the hadith narrated by alBukhari, When the janaza is placed and the men carry it on their shoulders, if it is a righteous person if it is a righteous person, it would say: go as fast as you can. This person is in a hurry to go the grave because he is anticipating the reward of Allah Subhanahu wa Taala. And Rasool (S.A.W.) says, If it is otherwise an evil person, then this person would say Vow to it where are taking me? And Rasool (S.A.W.) says every one would hear that would except the human being and if the human beings are able to hear it, they would die due to that shock. That shock would cause them death. If they would hear that sound of the person saying do not take me there where are you taking me? Vow to this person where are you taking me? Rasool (S.A.W.) said if the people were able to hear that, they would die they would die due to that shock. Assoiq as-saac is death due to a shock. This is the reality that we dont know. This is the reality. Rasool (S.A.W.) says if it wasnt for that sack, none of you would bury the dead, I would have asked Allah Subhanahu wa Taala to allow you to hear the sound which are the sound of the dipper (?) in the grave their voices. Rasool (S.A.W.) said, Allah Subhanahu wa Taala I could ask Him to allow you to hear the voices of the person of the grave but I am afraid if I do so that none of you would bury the dead.